You update your smartphone to access new features, safeguard against security risks and improve performance.
So when your people are your strongest asset, why would you expect them to rely on skills and processes they learned decades ago?
When businesses fail to update and support their teams, costly glitches creep in. And energy levels drain.
The alternative? Build updates around your people. Upskill them and remove productivity roadblocks.
The result? The acceleration of your digital transformation – and business excellence, delivered.
Sluggish performance? Errors creeping in?
Let’s say you’re midway through your digital transformation journey. You’ve sourced the latest technology. Integrated advanced algorithms. And streamlined your processes. Excellent – you’re on the right track.
But if you haven’t developed a plan to upskill your people – the ones leading that transformation – then even the most well-intentioned initiatives will fall short.
Because, like a phone left running on obsolete software, this oversight will become a drain on your resources and results. It may surface as:
- Performance becoming sluggish
- Glitches and errors creeping in
- Time wasted on resetting projects
- Energy levels plunging through the day
The business world moves fast. Tech evolves. APIs adapt – and best-practice procedures change.
Some processes your people learned a decade ago may still be relevant. But many will have become irrelevant or superseded. So it’s time to update.
Identify the issues
Before you can install targeted updates, you need to identify the issues – at their core. To get to the bottom of what’s really going on, you might:
- Implement regular health check assessments to diagnose inefficiencies early
- Examine how each part of your business is integrated – and how small changes can have ripple effects (good and bad) throughout your teams
- Ask your people what their bottlenecks are and which areas they’d like to be more proficient in
Design and deploy your updates
The solutions you engineer will vary according to the issues you identify. But they need to be centred around empowering your people to do their work more effectively.
For example, you might rebuild communication channels from the ground up. So that people operating in different silos can collaborate to achieve your broader objectives – beyond their day-to-day tasks.
Another example? Instead of purchasing costly new tech platforms, you might review your current systems and improve integration. Or send your technical experts on training courses to become gurus – so they can then share knowledge and efficiencies with the rest of your team.
Take note: As you equip your people with the skills and knowledge they need to drive your transformation forward, friction and inertia often follow.
To mitigate this,
- Hold open sessions (“tech talk session“) where people can freely raise concerns.
- Engage consultants who can remain neutral and mediate differing perspectives.
But beyond all else, remember to do one thing: Tailor each training session to make it engaging for the individuals who are receiving it.
Updates shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. So create custom dashboards and walk people through pilot solutions that will make their daily roles that much easier.
Support your people to boost your performance
Once you’ve deployed updates to equip your people with the skills and support they need, you’ll benefit from:
- Tasks and projects progressing more smoothly (and with fewer errors)
- Open collaboration between departments – with each unit aligned to your strategic vision
- Energy levels improving and your teams staying focused throughout the day
When uncertainties do arise – and they will – your people will feel supported to meet change head-on and navigate the path ahead.
But most importantly, updating your people’s capabilities and toolkit isn’t like a one-off software patch. This isn’t a ‘set-and-forget’ process.
You need to support your people continuously. To review and evaluate how your people, processes and data interact and influence each other to meet your business objectives.
Invest in your most important asset
As you embark on your BI journey, remember that it’s not all about cutting-edge software platforms and automations.
To drive positive organisational improvement, your people will always be your greatest asset.
So don’t squander their talent and potential by neglecting to nurture their development.
Invest in training to keep them agile, informed and energised to lead your transformation.
Engage specialists to help locate sources of frustration and tailor solutions for your next update.
You wouldn’t rely on the iPhone 3G to get you through a day of Zoom meetings, PowerBI reports and SharePoint files. So why should you expect your people to rely on the traits and methods they developed in 2008?
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